


a pinch of this or that

by VegetaLGBT



Series: half baked [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VegetaLGBT/pseuds/VegetaLGBT
Summary: In which Leon almost takes a step forward, but still manages to jump two spaces back....in the wrong directionorLeon still has a crush, he's just a little better at it now. (Almost.)
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Series: half baked [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913182
Comments: 30
Kudos: 86





	a pinch of this or that

Leon considered himself to be a very nice and patient person.

Growing up around equally nice people will do that to you; from his mother’s sunny smiles, his brother’s ever buoyant attitude, Sonia’s pleasant demeanor, and her Gran’s gentle warmth. It was easy enough to have a generally nice disposition growing up around that. 

In general, Leon didn’t really have much to be sour about, even when dealing with less than amiable people. Some people could be confused, hurt, frustrated, or just having a bad day; it never hurt him to always approach a situation with the utmost sincerity.

So yea, if asked, Leon could say he was usually a fair man. However—

“I already said I don’t know where it went okay!”

“ _f you don’t find it soon this wedding is going to turn into a funeral, you hear me!”_

—As it turns out, his seemingly never-ending patience did have a bit of a shelf life. 

Wearily, he lowered the camera from in front of his face as the family in front of him devolved into some nonsensical argument he could only be bothered to follow half of. 

Leon liked his job, he really did. Capturing peoples’ happiest moments at their weddings really did warm his heart. But every once in a while, he’d get a job accompanied by the ever so infamous Bridezilla. Even better with this particular job, there was a Groomzilla to match! This was in addition to there being the children of the Groomzilla, parents of the Bridezilla, the Bridesmaidzillas and just everyone here was _awful_ really. 

There was also the matter of the wedding cake...or lack thereof. 

This was, as a matter of fact, a wedding with no cake. A wedding with no cake meant an agitated bride and an agitated bride meant an aggravated _everybody._

He had seen the groom steadily turning more and more white as he eyed the empty place where the cake should be, his wife also turning red besides him. 

(Although he couldn’t be entirely sure that wasn’t also because of the unbearably hot sun beating down because of course it would be this hot when this couple chose to have an outdoor wedding.)

Add that to the fact the bride was adamant about no one even _thinking_ about dinner until there was a cake in sight and yea, it’s easy to see where his patience is rapidly disappearing to.

The agreed upon schedule was that Leon get to eat dinner with the rest of the guests as that was when everything will have died down a bit. So he was also _starving._

There were so many other things he could be doing right now; sleeping, laying in a cool room, getting lovingly scratched by his cat, going back to the Dragon’s Nest for the umpteenth t—

Ahem, well. Suffice to say this wasn’t one of the better jobs he’s had in awhile.

Right now, the bride was trying to get in as many candid photos with separate groups of friends and families as possible, but god there was _always_ some fiasco that had to go on before the actual picture. As of right now, that fiasco came in the form of her young daughter refusing to take the photo without her precious necklace that had been used for a game of Toss between the sons of the Groomzilla and was now just gone. 

He sat back on haunches. Knowing that this probably wouldn’t get resolved anytime soon, he fully lays back in the grassy field, eyes closed in a futile attempt to somewhat escape the overwhelming brightness of the sun that day.

Not too long after the fact he feels a shadow cast over him. He internally sighs, wondering if the family has finally decided they’re ready for the picture. But he can, in fact, still hear more yelling so more than likely—

“There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know,” a teasing voice informs him from above.

Leon snaps his eyes open and despite recognizing the voice, he still feels caught off guard to see a fang-toothed grin and blue eyes above him.

He feels a genuine smile come to his face. “Raihan!” He sits up and turns around to fully face the baker

The other man gives him a closed eye smile and it’s only because of _many_ days of practice that he does not immediately feel weak at the sight. “It’s been a while Leon.”

That it has. With how many times Leon comes into Dragon’s Nest, it was inevitable they became somewhat acquaintances. In Leon’s wildest imaginations he’s arrogant enough to think Raihan might even consider him a friend; he honestly can’t come up with many reasons for the slouch of Raihan’s shoulders when their conversations are cut short because Leon genuinely has to leave or Raihan has to, ya know, do his job.

Unfortunately time passes, and as time passes, spring rain blooms summer flowers. Of course wedding businesses did just fine in the spring, but in the summer? Even the smallest of companies and wedding oriented workers had a full schedule. Any free time could be kissed goodbye. 

As such his visits to Raihan’s bakery just didn’t happen. 

“Hey! What are you—” Leon stops as he stands up fully.

Raihan is carrying a white box. He has a leash looped on his wrist. At his feet sits a dog - Leon wants to think they’re a Collie, but he’s not sure Collies are supposed to be so _big_ \- with a bright orange vest on and dripping tongue lolling out the side of their mouth. He can’t see the extent of what the lettering on the side of the vest says, but he can see the letters ‘SER’ and it doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out the rest.

Huh. 

He looks back up and is slightly distressed about the fact he was only just noticing the box Raihan was carrying. It was _huge_. Actually…

“Is that the wedding cake?” 

Raihan lets out a noise between a small laugh and a huff. “The one and only.” His voice sounds slightly strained. 

He frowns a bit. “Do you need help with that?”

“ _Please_.” 

With a bit of maneuvering, Leon manages to help Raihan move the massive package over to the individual table set out for it. 

Raihan looks relieved to finally be able to put the thing down and leans on the table a bit, his dog coming up to rub its head on his thigh. After taking a second to catch his breath he looks back at Leon’s camera, then to Leon curiously. “So, a wedding photographer huh?” He takes a moment to rub his chin in thought. “Definitely not the day job I thought you were working?”

Leon tilts his head at Raihan. “Oh? What were you thinking?” 

Raihan’s hands come up to rub the back of his head. His locs aren’t held back in neat ponytails by a headband like usual. Instead they fall around his face while on top of his head sits an orange beanie...It’s cute. “Like a firefighter...or a lumberjack or something.”

He doesn’t mean too, but Leon can’t help but bark out a surprised laugh. “A lumberjack? Really mate?”

Raihan lets out a distressed noise. “You have biceps the size of my bloody head! What else was I supposed to think?”

Leon’s brain doesn’t even have time to short-circuit at the implication that Raihan has most definitely checked him out before suddenly Groomzilla is in front of them, eyes narrowed and face red as he looks up at Raihan. “It’s about _time_ you got here with that cake!” 

Raihan tilts his head and smiles, but Leon can tell from the set of his jaw that Raihan’s mood most certainly does not match his facial expression. “Sorry about that sir.” 

Groomzilla raises his hand and opens his mouth, likely to start yelling some more, because that’s all anybody at this wedding seemed to be capable of doing when a growl cuts him off. Groomzilla hurriedly steps back and glances down at Raihan’s dog from where they are eyeing him. 

The man’s jaw shuts with an audible ‘clack.” He looks up at Raihan, down at the dog, and then glares at Raihan again before stomping off to his wife, probably to inform her the long-awaited cake has arrived. 

Leon frowns at his retreating form before he looks at Raihan, eyebrows raised. They may not have known each other extremely well yet, but Leon knew for a fact Raihan wasn’t a shirker. “Was there a hold up or something at the bakery?” 

The dog rubs their head against Raihan’s hand and the man lets out a rough breath as he thumbs their fur softly. “Woulda been here sooner if the bloke didn’t just put in the order for the cake last night.”

“ _Seriously_ ?” There was no way anybody could be _that_ inconsiderate, could there?

Raihan nods. “‘pparently, they split up all the planning for the wedding, but the tosser _completely_ forgot about one of the most important things. Rang me up right as I was closing shop. _Oh please, my wedding’s tomorrow. You have to take this order! Please! You can’t abandon me in my min time of need. What kinda man are ya? What do I care that it’ll take nine hours to make? It's only midnight, you have time. Don’t have all the ingredients? There’s a twenty-four hour mart open somewhere. Just do it, bloody hell!_ Christ, what a wanker.” 

From the agitated hand motions of the groom and the narrowed heated gazes, the bride kept throwing at Raihan, Leon has some doubts about the version of the story the bride was getting. She looked to be frothing at the mouth whenever she glanced back over to the two of them, but melted whenever she turned back to her husband.

God they deserved each other. 

Something in Raihan’s story catches up to him then. “You were up _all_ _night_ making that?” Raihan grunts in affirmation.

Indeed, now that Leon was looking, he could see dark circles under the man’s eyes and he scowls. “You shouldn’t have taken that order. It’s not fair to you.”

His voice must come out a bit more forceful than intended because Raihan blinks over at him in surprise. A second later though and his mouth stretches into a small smile; it seems to be more to himself than anything. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But—”

Raihan waves him off. “Trust me, as much I like a challenge, if he had called even an hour later I would’ve said no. Ruined wedding or not. Plus the extra six hundred pounds he added to the price didn’t hurt too bad either.” 

Leon bites the inside of his mouth. “I suppose so...but—”

“You…” A voice seethes from behind them. 

When they turn, Bridezilla is there, Groomzilla ever at her side, and a good portion of the guests behind them. 

Bridezilla narrows her eyes at the dog by Raihan’s side before her eyes snap back up to his. “There better not be any dog hair in my cake.” 

Awful. Everyone at this wedding is _awful_.

“Can assure you ma’am, she doesn’t bake in the kitchen with me,” Raihan says dryly.

She harrumphs as she starts to unpack the box. “Yes well. I must say, I don’t fancy getting my wedding cake so late into my wedding.”

Raihan simply smiles. “I don’t fancy getting orders for such a cake at near midnight.”

Bridezilla stops and shoots Raihan a look, before looking at her husband and back at Raihan. Her brows pinch as she turns back to the box. “Still! Be that as it may you should have been more professional about it and I should….I should…” 

At five tiers the cake is _massive_. That’s the first thing Leon notices. It’s split down the middle and Leon can see each tier has no less than seven layers of chocolate with golden sponge sitting between them. The two splits are both leaning at an angle; like a building falling apart. At the top the wedding toppers of the groom and bride stand on each side of the cake, each holding onto a golden rope that spins elegantly down the cake with elegantly done fondue flowers. Each tier is also artfully decorated with small macaroons to add a bit of extra pop. 

It should be ostentatious yet it remains skillful and stylish. The craft on it is near masterful and, and—

For the first time in what feels like forever to Leon, Bridezilla is silent as she looks at it. Everyone else looks equally taken aback. 

The light atmosphere is broken by one of the guests. “Um...If the cake is here can we eat now?”

Leon pales, thinking that whatever relatively easy atmosphere had settled over is about to be shattered by screeching, and yelling and—

Bridezilla leans back in surprise at being addressed and blinks a few times. “Well,” a hand comes up to cup her cheek in thought, “I still want to take the one picture but...I suppose we can move onto dinner.”

Almost everyone’s shoulders sag in relief, eyes lighting up at the prospect of finally moving along. 

_Almost_ everyone. 

The daughter of Bridezilla stomps her little foot and puffs out her cheeks. “I still don’t have my necklace!” 

Bridezilla’s earlier temperament threatens to make its appearance again as she rounds on the sons of Groomzilla. 

Groomzilla spawn one raises his hands up in a defensive maneuver before she can even open her mouth. “W-We found it, it's just…”

“We can’t reach it,” Groomzilla spawn two pipes up, pointing towards a tall tree that Leon remembers doing a few photos in front of earlier. 

Ho boy. 

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


Upon closer inspection, the necklace is indeed too high up. 

The reflection of the jewels glint mockingly at them from the edge of the too high branch. Bridezilla absolutely _refuses_ to have her husband or any of the guests climb, lest they ruin their pretty dresses and suits. This refusal extended to Leon as well if only because she didn’t want to chance her photographer slipping and then being unable to take pictures because of an injury. 

Luckily Raihan seems to be almost tall enough to reach the jewelry. Just almost. 

Leon eyes Raihan warily as the man stands on his tip toes and extends his arm out to try and grab the necklace. _Just_ out of reach. “You got it?”

Raihan grunts as he gives a little jump. _So close_. “Yea, almost got it..” _So damn close._

Without even thinking Leon is approaching and lifting Raihan up easily. The other man makes a choked sound and his dog perks ups, circling Leon warily. Her ears are pointed up and alert, but her tail wags furiously and her head is cocked at him like she doesn’t quite know what to make of Leon. 

As long as she wasn’t biting him, that was fine. “Can you get it now?”

There is a pause. “...Yea I got it.” 

Leon puts Raihan down and the daughter of Bridezilla waste no time in snatching the necklace from the baker’s hand with a rushed ‘thanks.' Raihan uses his free hand to cough while his dog trots up to him, whining at him nervously. 

Raihan’s cheeks are flushed and Leon wonders if the heat was starting to get to him too. 

Leon has no time to ask before he’s being whisked away to take the last of group pictures for now so everybody can finally eat. 

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


Finally, _finally_ , after the last group photo was taken and Leon got a few snaps of the cake, he finds himself eating and resting under the shade of the same tree with Raihan, the other man evidently stuck here until another bus came. 

He looks up from a bite of his food only to come face to face with an extremely wet nose. 

“Ah!” He falls back a little in surprise, but Raihan’s dog doesn’t let up her curious sniffing of Leon. 

Raihan laughs a little, but luckily takes mercy on him pretty easily. “Gooey, down girl.” 

She obediently whirls back to Raihan’s side, still eyeing Leon curiously. 

Leon cocks his head. “Gooey?”

Her tongue lolls out and a large swab of drool drops to the ground with a resounding _plop_ , soon to be followed by more splashes if the perpetual, glistening wetness of her tongue was any evidence.

“She’s....cute..”

Leon’s not entirely sure of what kind of face he’s making, but it must not fully match his statement because it makes Raihan raise a hand to his face to hide his snort. 

Leon is a well-adjusted person who knows how to conduct himself in public; that is precisely why he does _not_ give into the urge to clutch his chest at the cuteness of the gesture. Instead he makes to pick at the last of his food.

Raihan pipes up from beside him, “You gonna have any cake when you’re done with that?”

Leon makes a low noise. As much as he does like Raihan’s sweets...“Ah, probably. Not very much in the mood for sweets right now.”

Raihan makes a curious noise. “Really? Thought you’re the kind of guy who’s in the mood _all_ the time.” 

Leon hums around a piece of chicken. “Eh. Depends, but I don’t have that much of a sweet tooth to be honest.” 

Silence. 

.

.

.

Leon freezes because goddammit he just told the man who was used to seeing Leon in his _bloody bakery at least four times a week_ that he didn’t _have much of a sweet tooth._

“...Is that right?” The sound of Raihan’s voice has Leon still eagerly looking up despite the ice he feels running through his veins; like a moth to the flame. He’s scared, because he’s probably not only made himself out to be a fool, but also—

Any other thought he has is dashed when he sees Raihan’s face. Because Raihan is not angry, or sad, or anything other negative emotion Leon thinks he would have dredged up with his contradictory statement. 

No, Raihan is looking at Leon like he’s seeing him for the first time. 

Unnerved by the gaze, Leon looks back down at his now empty plate of food. There is shuffling, the sound of click and something scritching on something else for a second. Leon only looks up again when Raihan’s hand comes down on the dirt next to him, the man using that as a point to help push himself off the ground. Leon deflates. 

“You’re going already?” 

Raihan opens his phone, nods to himself and closes it again. “Yea. Next bus is coming soon. Besides I don’t wanna distract you from your job for the rest of the evenin.’” 

Leon bites his lips at that.

Raihan waves a hand at him as Gooey trots loyally by his side. “Be seein’ ya, Leon.” And just like that, he is gone. 

Leon sighs and moves to get up, deciding it’s better to probably get right back to work rather than dwell on _that_. As his hand plants itself on the ground, he blinks when he feels something crinkle under it. When he moves his hand and looks down, a ripped piece of bright red paper is staring back at him, easily sticking out amongst the green of the grass.

Huh.

He picks it up to bring it closer and squints at the neat scrawl of numbers on it. 

Hm. 

He frowns as he crumples it quickly in his hand and tosses it on his plate to be thrown away. Leon figures one of the kids or somebody else must have dropped it when they took pictures here earlier. No need to leave it there and make the clean-up crews' life any harder.

He was a rather nice person after all. 

  
  
  


*************************** 

  
  
  


(As he will find out much later, he was a pretty unobservant person as well.)  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> just to clarify YES leon is an unreliable narrator. the wedding guest were NOT the ones who left that number there(raihan was) 🙈
> 
> Other notes:  
> \- Translating pokemon to the real is so much sometimes @_@ Especially when u specifically looking for dogs who usually very good as psychiatric/emotional support service dogs. Agh! Anyway yea, Gooey is Goodra. A 'blue' Collie mixed with Great Dane(why she's so big)  
> -Also i know wedding photographer is more of Raihan's thing but i was having a hard time thinking of any other job that would intersect with an event that needed to be catered so they could meet outside of bakery kjnfe  
> \- Also for the cake just imagine this https://i.pinimg.com/originals/56/c2/35/56c2351c784b18eb7938106c76c73bef.jpg but like. Artsy as hell. Also each tier of the cake is a Prinzregententorte basically. Raihan did not have a very good night LMAO  
> \- Also just in case it's also not clear? I can never tell with my won writing sometimes and im too embarrased to let anyone beta BUT in the middle? The heat was certainly not the thing that getting to Raihan, more of the fact Leon is big strong
> 
> Thank you once again for all the support on the first part of this. Hope you guys enjoy this as well since I have at least one more part planned for sure! ♡( ◡‿◡ )


End file.
